Dinner Meeting August 6, 2024
Our Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. Our speaker will be Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer. She will be discussing antisemitism in Fresno.
Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer is director of the Master of Educational Leadership Program at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) and a member of the School of Education faculty, based on the Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles. Her graduate courses include Leading Change in Jewish Education, Creating Cultures of Learning, Entering Organizations, and Introduction to Jewish Education. Laura has published in a variety of academic and professional journals and popular media. She was the editor of several curricula and is a frequent presenter at academic and professional conferences and on webinars. She has been a regular contributor to Moment Magazine’s “Ask the Rabbis” column since 2010. Laura recently served as co-chair of HUC-JIR’s Teshuvah Working Group which developed a set of recommendations designed to bring healing to those impacted by historic misconduct and strengthen institutional accountability. She earned her doctorate at the William Davidson Graduate School of Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, focusing on how teachers’ connections to and understandings of Israel impact the decisions they make about what to teach and how to teach it. She received an MA in Jewish Education and rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Rabbi Laura has lived in Fresno since 2011, when her husband, Rabbi Rick Winer was hired to be the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel. Laura and Rick are both deeply committed to interfaith and social justice work in Fresno, often collaborating in creating greater justice and wholeness in the community for all, especially those from historically marginalized communities. Rabbi Laura will often be seen at progressive rallies and marches and is often invited to be a guest teacher about Judaism and the American Jewish community in various settings in the greater Fresno area.
